June 5, 2025 - Yesterday in Fort William we went to the visitors center and asked what we should do in town. The guy we talked to mapped out a walk with some sights, so we're going to hit those today. We started with a continental breakfast at our B&B which wasn't as good as what Richard provided us in Invernvess, but it was pretty good for a continental. We then went to the train station to see the Jacobite steam engine train, which was used in the Harry Potter movies as the Hogwarts Express. It does a 2 hr trip for $70. The information guy said if you want to ride it for cheaper take the local train for $17 because it is the exact same trip (just not on the steam train). We decided to just check out the train at the station instead of riding on a train for 4 hours. Next we walked the Glen Way Trail to the Old Inverlochy Castle. We walked back to get the car and then drove to the Neptune staircase, which is 8 locks that lift boats 64 feet. We walked to town from our B&B and had dinner at Ben Nevis Bar. We did a lot of walking today 8.5 miles!
Fort William train station
The Jacobite steam train will go to Mallaig and back
A few questions for the train engineer
We're hiking the Great Glen Way
the trail goes along the River Lochy
We made it to the Old Inverlochy Castle
the castle is being renovated
but the gate to the castle isn't under construction
Next we drove to the Neptune staircase. The lock tenders were busy with a broken railroad bridge and 2 boats that were waiting in the last lock. This is the mechanism that works the lock gates
This view was from the lock gate, looking down at the two boats waiting in the final lock
then we walked to the top of the locks and this was the view down the stairs
We're getting excited for our canal boat adventure next week. We're hopefully not going to see anything this complicated.
We took a walk down the canal and got this good view of the steps from afar. The white bridge at the front is the stuck railroad bridge.
The guy at the information center told us to walk along the canal for the best view of Ben Nevis (the largest peak in the UK). We're not sure which peak it is. We asked a woman walking by and she said it was here somewhere and we should ask someone with a dog, they would know.
Fort William across the water
There is snow on the peak to the left
and we never did see the top of the peak to the right because of the clouds
When we got back to the locks they were getting ready to move the boats through the last lock
they opened the gate
both the white railroad bridge (that had been causing all the problems) and the green car bridge were swung to the side.
and the boat passed through
on it's way!
We had dinner at Ben Ness Bar (which 2 different people had recommended). We split the seafood platter appetizer with mussels, smoked haddock pate and haddock strips. Kev and I split tatties and haggis a small plate of fish and chips. It was a great spot for dinner!
It was a rainy walk back to the B&B but pretty views of the mountains through the clouds. I also like these crazy lines on the road before a pedestrian crossing
the street entrance to our B&B, Ashburn house
sun and clouds all at once
my glasses after our rainy walk from town
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